St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Wilson Contreras had a total meltdown that turned into an ugly scene as he threw his bat (hitting a Cardinals assistant coach) and tossed a vat of chewing gum onto the field after being ejected from Monday night's game against Pittsburgh.
It happened in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and a Cards runner on third with St. Louis holding a 6-5 lead. Contreras struck out looking on three pitches. As he walked back to the dugout, he appeared to be turning back towards home plate umpire Derek Thomas and likely had some things to say. Thomas apparently heard something he didn't like and tossed Contreras.
Contreras walked back to deny saying what he was accused of, with Cardinals manager Oli Marmol trying to calm him down. Suddenly, Contreras lost his mind and got in the face of Thomas, repeatedly telling him to "f*** off", at which point he had to be physically restrained by Marmot and several assistant coaches. Marmot continued the conversation with Thomas as Contreras was walked off the field, but eventually Thomas had enough and tossed Marmot as well.
As Contreras was walked back to the dugout, he tossed his bat behind him without looking first. As a result, he accidentally hit hitting coach Brant Brown in the face with it. Fortunately, Brown appeared to be OK. A few seconds later, a vat of chewing gum was thrown from the dugout onto the field, presumably by Contreras, leaving several Cardinals bat boys to clean up the mess.
"Willson was hot. My guess is that he heard something. And then, Mount Vesuvius happened."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 26, 2025
"Frustration understood. It happens. Not to that extent though."
Cardinals announcers Chip Caray and Brad Thompson react as Willson Contreras and Oliver Marmol are ejected. pic.twitter.com/su5ccbUgc6
Contreras, who was caught on camera eating bat tape during an at-bat earlier this year, not only will be looking at a possible suspension from this incident, but also has some people that he needs to apologize to. That would be Brown, who fortunately was not seriously injured from his bat toss, and the bat boys who had to clean up the mess he made. We have seen some players go ballistic after being ejected before, but this was really bad. Contreras could use some anger management training.
The Pirates tied the game in the top of the ninth, but the Cardinals walked it off in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 7-6.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports).
